Saint Mary's beacon., 1887-10-06
rlbly wan and sad.


should still b. near us at our Sil,,s
Is thene no haSeneSS We would hLle.
/ No inner VileneSS that We tlread,'
Alas, the sorrow in those awfpI
eyes answered the question for me
Ny cup OF bitterness was full, indeed
GIven over in death, traitor to NV
brothe, without hope either here or
hereafter, | stood 'vet.warm cornsa'
before my Judge, and that Judge the
one who in this life I had loved with
all a childs heart, with all a bows
hero worship. In mercy the the cold
wind crept into my heart and stilled
rs beating. The figures wayered in
the storm, grew dim, aud then were
plotted cut. | thought | heard the
death. rattle in my own throat, saw nv
own dead face looking up at me from
the snow, still with an awful stiffness,
but not of peace; SET rather in the
frozen agony of eternal despair. /
staggered forward and fell.
1t seemed TO me that in those min.
utes really passed through the val
ley OF death; really suffered the whole
punishment for my sin. | pray it
may be so. At least the worst seemed
past, for, even as | fell, nv head in
falling rested not on the snow. which
should have been my sepulchre, bat
on your icy cheek.
"Oh, OF course, | know how men Of
science would explain it all. The left
leg takes shorter stride than the
right lor some such theory ), and so. AS
was inevitable, had wandered around
In a circle until | returned to nv
starting point.
Possibly, they are right. l disa-
gree with them. To me il seems that
other aid than mans had led nv err
ing steps back to the path of duty:
aye, and was with me still as | lifted
your body in my arms.
Almost as if her dear voice was
speaking in the wild night, ! seemed
to hear again the Old old story your
mother used to tell us children-how
IN that night after Inkerman, the bro
theirs, one sore wounded and the 9th.
er sore spet, had held together man.
fully, and through the. darkness Of
night b I'd struggled baokto their lines,
almost dead, but not divided.
Nothing seemed strange to me
then. | knew thatkhese brothers hal
come to me from that-siien graveyard
at Sebastopol, where both now lie for
gotten with England's dead, to save
one son from death. and the other
from death and dishoaor.
81 hardly felt your weight as lifted
you on my shoulder Cdid | lift YOU. |
often wonder, or were they still help.
ing me p YOU seemed so light, so light
Utterly careless now Of self, and act
ing under an impulse altogether be-
yond my power to. o.control, | bore You
forward, not now with any uncertain
step, not now seeking any guide, but
going direct t. my point, like on4 who
knew his road and saw his goal before
him.
The snow still whirled about us,
and covered us, until We must have
seemed part of the storm; the wind
raved and mourned by fits, but | saw
nothing, heard nothing any longer.
"All seemed to be gradually merg-
ing into dream.
Pain and WEAKNESS, cold and des-
pair, the weight carried, and the woe
| suffered, were gone.
Home voices were whispering in
my ears, aud when a flood of light
streamed out through the storm, the
sobbing wind died away, and, as
stumbled across the threshold of ths
wretched inn, and dropped my bur-
den on the floor, loud and full from
the wild waste without broke the mu-
sic Of Eng!and's loyal soldier song, as
they sing it, hands clasped, round the
mess table:
For auld lang syne, nv laI,,
For auld lang sync"
For days and days the Russian
peasants nursed US, as mother might
nurse her only child.
"Iou recovered consciousness first,
and, save :or those two fingers which
you left as spoils to the frozen North,
we've little the worse for that bitter
night.
after weeks of delerium, on the
very threshold OF the next world, |
too, recovered.
DO You wonder, now, Will, that |
cannot look in the face of t.e man
who calls me his preserver with the
happy smile Of loyal comrade2 1t
took nothing less than the presence Of
one risen from the dead TO prevent my
dying as yonr. murder. Through wears
of successful toll | have tried to keep
my secret and forget-to keep YOU
still in Ignorance, so that might al
way, enjoy the love and trust you
gave me.
at could not be. Those haunting
eyes have never left me, and now, al
ter ten years, they compel me to give
up my secret, as they compelled me
then to retrace my steps and 10 my
duty.
There, Will. you have my story
now-we'll say goodbye tomorrow,
and. if you can forgive ne.
Need / say any more; need add
that Hal did not leave nv house that
week; that Kimberly knows that sue
cessful engineer no more; that my
nearest neighbor and dearest friend is
s'.ll Cousin Hal. and that in my heart
OF hearts | look upon his story as the
unfortunate remains OF some terrible